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Introduction

It is impossible to think of the Christian faith without the Bible. It is the foundation of Christianity’s evangelism, its teaching, its worship and its morality. When we look back over Christian history, we find few - if any – decisions more basic than those made during the first three centuries of surrounding the formation of the Bible. The Scriptures served not only as the inspiration for believers facing martyrdom, but as the supreme standard for the churches threatened by heresy. If Christianity was orthodox, the Bible made it so, for the constant test of any teaching was, what do the Scriptures say?

Canon Scripture

The word for the special place Sacred Scripture occupy in the Church is canon. The term from the Greek language originally meant “a measuring rod” or, as we might say, “a ruler.” It was a standard for judging something straight. So the idea transferred to a list of books that constituted the standard or “rule” of the churches.

An abundance of evidence indicates that the various books of the Old Testament were written at different times throughout a period of about a thousand years prior to 400 B.C. in the case of the New Testament the books were written from about 50 A.D. to 100 A.D.

The writers of the books of the Bible were, of course, human beings. But it has always been the historic Christian belief that they wrote under an influence of the Holy Spirit which has been called "Inspiration." (2 Peter 1:20-21)

This fact of inspiration makes the Bible qualitatively different from all other books in the world. It is different not merely in degree but in kind. It stands in a class by itself, unique and unparalleled. It is in very truth the Word of God.

Case Study: Marcion and Montaus

Marcion – A follower of gnostic teacher Credo, who believed that the God of the Old Testament was different from the God and the Father of Jesus Christ. He believed that whereas the God of the Old Testament was unknowable; the Christian God has been revealed. The Old Testament God was sheer justice; whereas the God of the New Covenant was loving and gracious.

He held that the God of the Old Testament loved the Jews exclusively, so he rejected the entire Old Testament and also the New Testament writings that he thought favored Jewish readers such as Matthew, Mark, Acts and Hebrews. He also rejected Christian writings that appeared to him to compromise his own views, including some of Paul’s Pastoral Letters such as 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus. So he was left with only a mutilated version of Luke’s Gospel where he omitted the Nativity story and the ten letters of Paul. To him Paul was the only apostle that did not corrupt the Gospel of Jesus.

He was later refuted by the Church on the grounds that: by eliminating the Old Testament he hoped to make the love of God central for the Christian. But love that never faces the demands of justice is not Christian love. It was not the love that Marcion’s hero knew! Paul found in the Cross not only a demonstration of God’s love but a display of His righteousness. Christ’s death, he said allowed God to be both just and the justifier of all who believe in Jesus (Romans 3:25-26). That is the marvel of grace that Marcion missed.2

Montanus – He appeared as a voice in the wilderness of Asia Minor. He came with a demand for higher standard and a greater discipline and a sharper separation of the church from the world. Had he halted there, he could have done little but good, but he went much further. He and his two prophetesses Priscia and Maximilla went about prophesying in the name of the Spirit, and foretelling the speedy second coming of Christ. The in itself was not extraordinary. But these new prophets, in contrast to prophets in biblical times, spoke in a state of ecstasy, as though their personalities were suspended while the Paraclete spoke in them. Montanus was convinced that he and his prophetesses were the God-given instruments of revelation, the lyres across which the Spirit swept to play a new song. With that Montanus’ super-spirituality went too far.

Clearly the church had to act. The greatest problem was disorder. Montanus as a herald of a new spiritual vitality and a new challenge to holiness was one thing; but when Montanists insisted that opposition to the new prophecy was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, many churches spilt over the question.

Montanus’ doctrine of the new age of the Spirit suggested that the Old Testament period was past, and that the Christian period centering in Jesus had ended. The prophet claimed the right to push Christ and the apostolic message into the background. The fresh music of the Spirit could override important notes of the Christian gospel; Christ was no longer central. In the name of the Spirit Montanus denied that God’s decisive and normative revelation had occurred in Jesus Christ.

In the face of this challenge how could the church keep the gospel central? It had to make all later Christian worship, teaching and life center in Christ and the apostolic witness. Free utterances of the Spirit would not guarantee that; Montanism was making this clear. The best way to make the original apostolic gospel basic was to set apart the apostolic writings as uniquely authoritative. This would require that all later faith and action are to be judged in the light of that central message.

It was not that the church had ceased to believe in the power of the Holy Spirit . The difference was in the first days the Holy Spirit had enabled men to write the sacred books of the Christian faith; in the later days the Holy Spirit enabled men to understand, to interpret and to apply what had been written.3

In a sense both of them set the stage for the church to clearly articulate exactly what canon Scripture is whereas Marcion, heretic nudged the churches into upholding the canonicity of the Old Testament, Montanus, forced the churches into taking the warning on the last chapter of Revelation seriously.

How The Books Of The Bible Were Selected

There were many other books in Bible lands than those we find in our present Bible. This was true both in the Old and the New Testament times. How did it come about that just the books that we have were included in the Bible and not others?

The answer in brief is that the selection was made by the spiritual consciousness of godly people. In order to appreciate what this statement means, let us note the activity of the Holy Spirit in the affairs of men. Both Scripture and experience make it abundantly clear that in the lives that are surrendered to God there is definite light and guidance that come from the Holy Spirit. Men become wondrously wise spiritually when they permit Him to instruct them. Jesus spoke of this to His disciples when He assured them of the Spirit's help whenever they came into a difficult situation: "The Holy Spirit shall teach you in that very hour what ye ought to say" (Luke 12:12). And on another occasion he told them that the Holy Spirit "shall guide you into all truth" (John 16:13).

Many of us have been repeatedly amazed at the spiritual understanding and insight of people who may have had but a meager general education, but who have been in attendance in the school of the Holy Spirit.

This divinely guided consciousness of godly people in Bible times enabled them to judge what was spiritually true and what was false in the books that circulated among them and to detect the evidences of inspiration. There were, to be sure, certain specific standards set up as time went on, such as authorship, time of writing, language used, and the like. But the main fact to bear in mind is that as a result of the operation of the spiritual judgments of godly people there emerged out of the mass of writings certain books which by common agreement were regarded as divinely inspired. These books we call the Canon or the Canonical Books. "Canon" is a Greek word which means a rule or measuring line. A Canonical book, therefore, is one that conforms to the "Canon," that is, passes the test.

There is much evidence to indicate that the Canon of the Old Testament was fixed by the about the year 400 B.C. largely as a result of the work of Ezra and Nehemiah and a council of Jews known as the Great Synagogue, which met after the return from the Babylonian captivity. Long before that time, however, many of the books we now have in the Old Testament had been agreed upon as inspired.

In the case of the New Testament the fixing of the Canon was done mainly at the council at Carthage in 387 A.D., although the evidence points to the selection of the books as early as about the year 100 A.D.

Certain books known as Apocryphal Books were by some regarded as on a par with the Canonical books, but they were not admitted to the Canon by those who were in the best position to pass on their merits.

"Criteria for Canonicity"

Apostolic Origin — attributed to and based on the preaching/teaching of the first-generation apostles (or their close companions).

Universal Acceptance — acknowledged by all major Christian communities in the ancient world (by the end of the fourth century). (Colossians 4:16)

Liturgical Use — read publicly when early Christian communities gathered for the Lord's Supper (their weekly worship services). Justin Martyr, writing in the middle of the second century gives, us the first description of a Christian service: “On the day called the Day of the Sun all who live in cities or in the country gather to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things.”4

Note the phrase: ‘the memoirs of the apostles’ which was his title for writings that trace back to the apostles, were as early on considered the central part of Christian worship.

The basic factor for recognizing a book's canonicity for the New Testament was divine inspiration, and the chief test for this was apostolicity. The term apostolic as used for the test of canonicity does not necessarily mean apostolic authorship or derivation, but rather apostolic authority.

How The Books Were Transmitted

There are no original manuscripts of any of the Bible books known to be in existence today. Perhaps God's wisdom is evident in this, for if any of them did exist, some people might be tempted to worship them as idols.

Humanly speaking, the absence of any originals or even of the earliest copies is explainable on the ground of the perishableness of the materials and the Jewish custom not to tolerate any soiled or worn-out copies of their Scriptures. These were either burned or buried.

Since there were no printing presses in Bible times, the various books had to be reproduced by hand. They were written on baked clay tablets, on parchment (sheepskin), on paper made of the papyrus reed, and later on vellum (calfskin). The copying was done with extreme and conscientious care.

In spite of the extreme care exercised in copying the Bible books, minor errors inevitably crept in through the course of the centuries. Hence there arose what are known as variations in the manuscripts. A great many of these have been listed, but scholars are of the opinion that not a single variation vitally affects any basic Christian truth.

In order to determine as nearly as possible what the original text was, a vast amount of scholarship has been expended in the study of old manuscripts, early translations, quotations from and references to the Bible in other ancient writings.

As a result of able, extensive, and painstaking textual scholarship it may be confidently affirmed that we possess today the Bible books essentially as they came from the inspired writers. 5

Development of the Old Testament Canon

Since the first Christians were all Jews, Christianity was never without a canon, or as we say Scripture. Jesus Himself clearly accepted the Old Testament as the Word of God.

- John 10:35

Luke 24:44

Below is a summary as to how the Old Testament Canon developed within the Church

1,400 BC: The first written Word of God: The Ten Commandments delivered to Moses.

500 BC: Completion of All Original Hebrew Manuscripts which make up The 39 Books of the Old Testament.

200 BC: Rabbis translate the Old Testament from Hebrew to Greek, a translation called the "Septuagint". The Septuagint ultimately includes 46 books.

AD 30-100: Christians use the Septuagint as their scriptures.

AD 100: Jewish rabbis meet at the Council of Jamniah and decide to include in their canon only 39 books, since only these can be found in Hebrew.

AD 400: Jerome translates the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into Latin (called the "Vulgate"). He knows that the Jews have only 39 books, and he wants to limit the Old Testament to these; the 7 he would leave out (Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach [or "Ecclesiasticus"], and Baruch--he calls "apocrypha," that is, "hidden books." But Pope Damasus wants all 46 traditionally-used books included in the Old Testament, so the Vulgate has 46.

AD 1536: Luther translates the Bible from Hebrew and Greek to German. He assumes that, since Jews wrote the Old Testament, theirs is the correct canon; he puts the extra 7 books in an appendix that he calls the "Apocrypha."

AD 1546: The Roman Catholic Council of Trent reaffirms the canonicity of all 46 books

The Apocrypha

The biblical apocrypha (from the Greek word that means hidden) are texts which are often printed as part of the Bible despite their perceived status of being outside of the biblical canon. They are typically printed in a third section apart from the Old and New Testaments. These include texts written in the Jewish and Christian religious traditions that either:

were accepted into the biblical canon by some, but not all, Christian faiths, or

whose canonicity or lack thereof is not yet certain.

Development of The New Testament Canon

There are basically two different forms of communication, oral and written. The apostles used both in exercising their "power of attorney" to present Christ's Word. The oral form is by far the earliest form used and dates back to the their first commission to "preach" (Matt. 10, Mark 3:13-19, Luke 6:12-16). Apostolic preaching was for many years the only form used and held a place of high importance throughout the Apostolic era. Since this such an important form of communication, authorized by Christ for use by the apostles, we should understand it and be acquainted with the New Testament concept of it.

In the New Testament there are many references to this oral form. Luke wrote that his writings "were delivered . . . unto us (Luke and his contemporaries) which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word" (Luke 1:1-4). Jude also wrote that when he was eager 'to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3). Paul wrote, "stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle" (2 Thess. 2:15).

The Apostles and the Written Word

As time passed, the apostles increasingly put their communications into a written form. This can be concluded from the Scriptures cited in the last section, in which there is evidence of an increase in the use writing as the church spread. This was an expected and natural development. As the apostles opened work in more distant areas, they could keep in contact with churches by writing. Also it was inevitable that the apostles would die one by one. These two factors made the certainty of the apostles' oral traditions doubtful, thus placing greater importance on the written word. The written word quickly received a place of high significance. It was placed on the same level as the Old Testament Scriptures. Paul's letters were read in church gatherings on the same level as Old Testament Scriptures (1 Thess. 5:27, Col. 4:16). Peter classed Paul's letter with the Scriptures (2 Peter 3:15). John presupposed that his Book of the Revelation would be read as other Scriptures (Rev. 1:3).

It is clear from the above that the written word was given great significance, and as time passed it was given greater priority over the oral form of transmission. Actually the written word was a fixation of the oral form.

The New Testament Canon

Thus far we have established a relationship between the apostles' written word and Christ's historical redemptive events. The question now arising is, "How did the apostles' writings come together to form the New Testament canon--the collection of books which are received as genuine and inspired Holy Scripture?" The answer to this question is simple.

The Christians and the church simply acknowledged the apostles' authority and accepted their writings, and writings of those intimately associated with them (as Mark and Luke), as part of the Holy Scripture. The church did not put together a canon that made books authoritative because they were included in it. The church only acknowledged what was given by the apostles, and included books in the canon because of this apostolical authority. They never regarded these books as anything else than canonical.

The actual canonization process took a long time. At first each of the apostle/s writings were acknowledged individually as authoritative. There was no canon of them that gave them authority because they were in it. But as time passed the need for a canon increased. False teachers arose and questioned the authority of certain of the writings that did not agree with their ideas. This forced the Christian brotherhood to gather together the individual apostle/s writings and assemble them into a canon. The church gathered together the writings that were accepted as the apostles' from the very beginning. This was no real problem for the church since she as a whole generally acknowledged the same writings. The writings that were questioned were small in number and then generally questioned only in late times by obviously false teachers and in small local areas.

Today we accept the twenty-seven books of the New Testament as authoritative and can do so without the slightest doubt. We depend on the early Christians' decisions that each of the twenty-seven books has apostolic authorship. We do this since there were in a much better position to judge. The reason for this lies in the concept of apostolicity, which limits it to a certain place and time. Those at the correct place and time, the recipients of each writing, are in the best position to say where the writings came from. Thus we accept their decision and can do so with confidence since the Holy Spirit was at work guiding the decision.

In summary, the New Testament is our authority in religious matters because it is tied to the historical redemptive events. Christ established the means by which it was written. He called apostles to give His Word and gave the Holy Spirit as a guide. The early Christians accepted their word as Christ's Word because of this call. The early church gathered together the apostles' writings, and by acknowledging their authority from Christ, completed the last step in the recording of the final revelation of God to man, the New Testament.

Deuterocanonical books

Deuterocanonical books is a term used since the sixteenth century in the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Christianity to describe certain books and passages of the Christian Bible that are not extant in Hebrew. The term is used in contrast to the "protocanonical books", which are contained in the Hebrew Bible. This distinction had previously contributed to debate in the early church about whether they should be read in the churches and thus be classified as canonical texts.

The word deuterocanonical comes from the Greek meaning 'belonging to the second canon'. The etymology of the word is misleading, but it does indicate the hesitation with which these books were accepted into the canon by some. Note that the term does not mean non-canonical; despite this it has sometimes been used as a euphemism for the Apocrypha.

Protestant Christians usually do not classify any texts as "deuterocanonical"; they either omit them from the Bible, or include them in a section designated Apocrypha. The similarity between these different terms contributes to the confusion between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox deuterocanon and the texts considered non-canonical by one or both groups of Christians.

Gnostic Gospels

The term gnostic gospels refers to gnostic collections of writings about the teachings of Jesus, written around the 2nd century AD. These gospels are not accepted by most mainstream Christians as part of the standard Biblical canon. Rather, they are part of what is called the New Testament apocrypha. However, public interest has been spurred by recent novels and films which refer to them.

Historical Development of Canon Scripture

1st Century AD: Completion of All Original Greek Manuscripts which make up The 27 Books of the New Testament.

315 AD: Athenasius, the Bishop of Alexandria, identifies the 27 books of the New Testament which are today recognized as the canon of scripture.

Teaching Bibliology at Sunday School has made this piece from the late Robbert Webber more relevant.___

We live in a world where there are many stories—many ways that people interpret and therefore see the world. For example, just go back to the twentieth century and think about the stories that dominatedour world:• Hitler created the story of Fascism and set out to rule the world through the Aryan race.• Marx created the story of Communism and set out to rule the world.• The Secularists created the story that there is no God and that we humans, left on our own in a cold and indifferent world, must learn to make our own way.• Then came the new religions from the East. They said God is the world and the world is God. So they sought to narrate the world through a resurrected pantheism.

In the meantime, Christianity became increasingly privatistic. We stopped thinking about the story of God. The Christian convictions of Creation, Incarnation, death, Resurrection, and the return of Christ to establish a new heaven and new earth where Jesus is Lord over all creation as the story of the world was neglected. In place of the whole story we concentrated on this piece or that piece of the story. So the story of God as the interpretation of the world from its beginning to its ending simply fell into disuse.

Instead of focusing on God and God’s story, we followed the emphasis of the narcissistic culture and became interested in self. This concern for self was translated into the Christian faith, and into worship and preaching in particular.

For many the issue became “how can God help me?” How can God make my life better? How can I be filled with joy? How can I recover from a divorce? How can I get my life together and be productive? There is nothing wrong with these questions. People have to deal with these issues. However, the primacy given to these questions in recent years is narcissistic and not really what God’s good news is really about.

The good news is that God the creator has a plan for his universe. That plan has been revealed in Jesus Christ, whose incarnation, death and resurrection, and coming again constitute not only God’s story, but in reality the story of the world.

Now, here we are in the twenth-first century. We battle with contending stories of the world. Communism is still a way to view the world. Atheism lurks in the corner. Eastern religions are still attracting many people. And now the terrorists are saying, “We will take over the world and bring you all under Shira Law. You will become enslaved by our laws, and we will terrorize you until you succumb.”

In the meantime, the world is up in flames, so to speak. Europe is under attack. Africa is in a tailspin with Aids, poverty, and genocide. In a world that is disintegrating, somebody is going to narrate the world. Christians can’t narrate the world with a privatistic, narcissistic religion. So Christians must once again become united, not in whining about their pain and brokenness, but in a hope for the future because they are recovering God’s story.

In worship we reenact and proclaim that story. We tell and enact the meaning of the world because we proclaim the truth of the world.

The truth is, God created everything.

The truth is, we fell away from God through the sin of rebellion.

The truth is that God has become involved in the history of the world to rescue the world and restore it.

The truth is that God has rescued the world from the inside. He became one of us in the Incarnation. He died for us as our sacrifice, saving us from sin. In his resurrection, he destroyed death and began a new creation. He is Lord over all creation, and at the end of history he will destroy the presence of evil in this world and reign forever in the new heavens and the new earth.

When we worship together we are recovering God’s story. This story is much bigger than our individual lives. It is more than a narcissistic preoccupation with self. It is all about God who in Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit has won back the world for God. When we worship we reenact and proclaim God’s story to the eternal praise of God.

True worship puts you into God’s story. It changes your life because it puts your day-by-day experience of life—the disappointments and the things that make you soar—into the perspective of God’s story. It reminds you of the true story of the meaning of the world and puts into perspective the place your life has in the grand story.

Find your place in God’s story of the world which worship proclaims, and learn to interpret the struggles of your life within the big picture of God’s story.

"You have Scripture for a master instead of me; from there you can learn whatever you would know."

-John Chrysostom

Introduction

In all things we always have a basis for what we believe in. Whenever we’re engaged in an intense discussion over anything we would always invoke the basis or authority of our argument, we often say: ‘on whose authority?’ or ‘the basis of what?’ or do you have a reference upon which you would like to rest your case on?’ In other words, there’s always a burden of proof on our part about the things we believe. The same could be said when it comes to our belief in orthodox Christianity, we need to have a basis upon which our faith rests, for our belief is not a mere illogical transfer of our trust on someone or something but on God’s self revelation through the Bible.

Literally, Bible means “book”, which is referred to by the historic Christian church as the written Word of God. The first words of the book show that God is the leading character of this divine autobiography: ”In the beginning God…” (Genesis 1:1). Its pages show us God taking the initiative, giving us information about Himself, showing His purposes for us – His creation. 1

The Bible is God’s chosen instrument, God unfolds for us His true character upon which He tells us where we came from, what our ultimate destiny is, and the purpose of our lives. He gives practical instruction, heartfelt encouragements, warnings and divine wisdom. All from our Creator. Here God’s unrivaled power and integrity are also unveiled.2

In this study we will ascertain why the Bible is trustworthy of our faith and hope, because it is God’s written communication to us.

I. Scripture

From the Greek term graphe, which literally means: “that which is written.” In other words, the sacred writings. When we rely on the Bible, we rely on that which has been written, which is very significant because it means that God didn’t simply think His message. He didn’t simply speak His message or reveal it in the clouds or through dreams to men and women in biblical times. No, He saw to it that His Word was actually written down. He put it in the language of the people so that people in all generations could read and grasp its significance. He “graphed” His Word. We’re grateful we have a book that contains the very mind of God – the Scriptures – in written form. 3

John 17:14-17 – “Thy Word is truth”.

Which basically means that our belief has basis in the veracity, and reliability of Scripture. This is not human counsel; it is truth – divine counsel. We are sanctified by truth in God’s Word.

We talk about the Word of God as truth. We are right to do so. But we have to acknowledge when we speak along those lines that the world of our day no longer strictly believes in truth. But here we have truth embodied in Scriptures…

Here the efficacy of the Word of God comes in: the fact that God really uses the Word to accomplish His purposes, whether men and women believe in the Word of truth or not. 4

Romans 3:2 – “the very words of God” in Scripture is entrusted to the Apostles which is related to the previous passage because the context of that passage relates to Jesus’ praying for His disciples who will carry out the ministry of proclaiming the Gospel.

1 Thessalonians 2:13 – these words are at work in us who believe, again we see that as John pointed it out we are: ‘sanctified in truth.’

Apostle Paul speaks of Scripture as “the very words of God.” Which means that early on in the Christian church believers equate Scriptures as God’s very words.

II. Inspiration

"Scripture is not only man's word, but also, and equally God's word, spoken through man's lips or written with man's pen."5

2 Peter 2:20-21 – “men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”

The Bible originated in the mind of God, not in the mind of man. It was given to man by inspiration. The Bible is not inspired as we say the writings of Shakespeare were inspired or the music of Bach was inspired. The biblical sense of inspiration means: “God so superintended the writers of Scriptures that they wrote what He wanted them to write, disclosing the exact truth He wanted conveyed. 6

2 Timothy 3:16 – “All Scripture is God-breathed.”

The term inspiration comes from Latin and English translations of the Greek word theopneustos, which literally means "God-breathed".

Inspiration establishes that the Bible is a divine product. In other words, Scripture is divinely inspired in that God actively worked through the process and had his hand in the outcome of what Scripture would say. Inspired Scripture is simply written revelation. 7

"Among those things which are said openly in Scripture are to be found all those teachings which involve faith, the mores of living, and that hope and charity which we have discussed." 8

III. Inerrancy and infallibility

Inerrancy is the view that when all the facts become known, they will demonstrate that the Bible in its original autographs and correctly interpreted is entirely true and never false in all it affirms, whether that relates to doctrines or ethics or to the social, physical, or life sciences.9

Some scholars see infallibility as a less restrictive term than "inerrancy" in discussing the reliability of the Bible. The infallibility of the Bible means that it does not err or is incapable of error in all things that is of spiritual, religious or redemptive themes. Which makes what is testified of the Scripture about doctrines like the Personhood and nature of God and the salvific value of Jesus’ work on the Cross, certain and complete.

Matthew 5:18 - "not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen" - renders that all that is written as a truth that will ultimately be fulfilled

Galatians 3:16 – Scriptures testify to the realization of God’s covenant with Abraham in Christ.

2 Peter 1:19-21 (ESV) - And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

2 Timothy 3:16b

IV. Historicity and Preservation of Scriptures

Through the centuries Scribes worked with such precision and reverence that they wiped their pens clean each time before writing the name of God. We now have thousands of miraculously preserved copies, differing from each other only in minute ways. One scholar likened the differences to English spellings of honor and honour, both considered correct.

God sovereignly guarded and protected the copies of the original text.10

The Old Testament

1. The abundance of manuscripts

As early as the 1700s Benjamin Kennicott published 615 OT manuscripts, and a few years later Giovani de Rossi published 731 manuscripts. Furthermore, beginning around 1890 around ten thousand manuscripts were discovered in Cairo Geniza. In addition to these manuscripts, more were discovered in the caves by the Dead Sea at Qumran in 1947, also known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. The largest collection of manuscripts in the world, the Second Firkowitch Collection in Leningrad, contains 1,582 items of Bible and Masora or Masoretic texts (manuscripts from the 6th-9th century AD) text, plus twelve hundred Hebrew fragments.11

Most of the OT manuscripts in our possession are dated between A.D. 800-1100. However, due to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, dating as far back as the third century B.C., the accuracy of these later manuscripts has been attested.

2. Their accuracy

In evaluating the evidence there is both internal and external evidence. The Dead Sea Scrolls provide the best external evidence and show that the later manuscripts that we possess were in fact preserved through close to 1,000 years. We can be confident that the texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls were used to transmit the text that is found in the later documents. Comparative studies have been made and the results reveal a word-for-word identity in some 95% of the text. Due to the help of the Septuagint (also known as the LXX), we can also crosscheck the accuracy of the transmission of the texts. Through internal evidence we can view the duplicate passages we have in the OT (i.e. Isaiah 36-39 and 2 Kings 18-20; Jeremiah 52 and 2 Kings 25, and others) and realize that they are accurate as well.

3. The reliability of the authors

The authors of the OT present real history, about real people, and in real locations. Much of this has been proven through the finds of biblical archaeology. World-renowned archaeologist William F. Albright states, "There can be no doubt that archaeology has confirmed the substantial historicity of the Old Testament tradition (Albright, Archaeology and Religion of Israel, p. 176). Nelson Glueck adds that, "As a matter of fact... it may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference. Scores of archaeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or exact detail statements in the Bible (Glueck, Rivers in the Desert, p. 31). The biblical authors told the truth, and biblical archaeology has confirmed this without error.

The New Testament

Christianity is "built upon the foundation of faith in the historical Jesus who is revealed by the historical New Testament documents. It is of utmost importance that these documents show themselves to be trustworthy and reliable since they are the primary documentary sources substantiating the object of the Christian faith, who is Jesus Christ. Unlike other religious systems, which simply express a code of ethic, morality, and philosophical ideas, the Bible claims to be God's divine revelation for all of mankind and it verifies its claims through historical evidence. As New Testament scholar F.F. Bruce notes, "And this Good News is intimately bound up with the historical order, for it tells how the world's redemptive God entered into history, the Eternal came into time, the Kingdom of heaven invaded the realm of earth, in the great events of the Incarnation, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Jesus the Christ." Given the extraordinary historical events that the Bible records, it is crucial to determine two things: (1) The reliability of the New Testament documents and (2) The reliability of the New Testament witnesses. If we cannot establish the reliability of these sources, then we have no objective way to evaluate the historical sayings, deeds, and claims of Jesus and his disciples." 12

Conclusion: Sola Scriptura

Scripture alone (from the Reformation slogan Sola Scriptura) is the teaching that Scripture is the Church's only infallible and sufficient rule for deciding issues of faith and practices that involve doctrines. While the Bible does not contain all knowledge, it does contain that which is necessary for salvation. Indeed, if something is not found in Scripture, it is not binding upon the believer. This view does not deny that the Church has the authority to teach God's Word. Furthermore, while tradition is valuable, it but must be tested by the higher authority of the Scriptures. 13

Why is this important? Because in the end we would come to a point when we’ll have to ask ourselves as to what is our final authority in life. For us Christians there is a growing question of relevance especially in the theological truths that we hold-fast to.

There can be no more reliable authority on earth than God’s Word, in the Bible. This timeless, trustworthy source of truth holds the key that unlocks life’s mysteries. It alone provides us with the shelter we need in times of storm.

In a world of relativism, (which is best described in terms of ‘constructed realities’) the Bible talks in terms of right and wrong, good and bad, yes and no, true and false. In a world where we’re encouraged to do it “if it feels good,” the Bible addresses that which is sinful and holy. Scripture never leaves us with a bewildered look on our faces, wondering about the issues of life. It says, “This is the way it is. That’s the way it ought to be. This is the way to walk; do not walk there.” It tells us straight. It provides us the kind of solid foundation that you and I need. 14

Pragmatic trends in theology also short-changes us into focusing on the immediate practical benefit of Scripture, which is the popular approach of treating the Bible as a mere guidebook or manual for pious living, which is not bad in principle but is somewhat short sighted especially since Scripture also testifies that Jesus in His earthly ministry did not merely focus on the immediate and practical benefit of His ministry, whenever He sought those whom He healed and told them: “your faith has healed you.”

Matthew 9:20-22; Luke 7:50, 17:19, 18:42

Paul Little once told of the story of his student who once told him: “When I read the Bible, I fall asleep.”

Perhaps he overlooked the fact that it was the God of the universe. Who spoke these words. When this gets into the marrow of our bones, the words fly off the pages to us and are nothing short of life-changing. 15

In a nutshell: Evangelicals are Christians who define themselves, their faith, and their lives according to the Good News of Jesus of Nazareth.1

I am one of those people on the evangelical world who have come to the conclusion that there is an urgent need to rescue evangelicalism from the politics of the Religious Right, this is quite an encouraging piece for kindred souls out there who are as discouraged as I am with how so-called 'American evangelicalism' has tarnished its witness to the Gospel of Christ.

The Bible is God’s Word to us. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword and the Christian’s charter. It should fill the memory, rule the heart and guide the feet. It should be read slowly, frequently and prayerfully.1

Introduction: Knowing that in the previous lesson God chooses and desires to reveal Himself to us the best place to start the study of His revelation is the Bible which is the written witness to God’s words and acts on the plane of history.

What is the Bible?

The Bible is the Word of God. It claims to be truth, the message from God to man.2 The English word Bible comes from the Greek word biblia, meaning “books” So the it is a collection of books that are bounded into a single book with two distinct parts or “testaments,” from the Latin testamentum, meaning “oath” or “covenant.”

The books themselves were written over a period spanning at least twelve hundred years from 11000 BC to AD 100. The books were written by approximately 40 different men who lived at various times and in different countries and was originally written in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic. It has been translated into some 2000 languages, and more than 80% of the world’s population has access to the Bible or some portion of it (i.e. Gideon’s New Testament) in their own language.

Despite this vast variety, God moved the writers to focus on God’s glory in man’s redemption with one central figure—Jesus Christ, the Son of God.3

The Old Testament

The Torah or the Pentateuch (Genesis to Deuteronomy)– The books of Moses in which God calls or elects Israel to be His people, frees them from bondage in Egypt and enters into a covenant with them in Mount Sinai.

The Historical Books (Joshua to Esther)– They trace the history of Israel over a period of some 800 years: from their entry into the Promised land (Canaan) under Joshua in 1250 BC; the settlement of the land during the 200 year period of the Judges, the monarchies of Saul, David and Solomon as kings of Israel; the split and division of the land into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah and their defeat by the Assyrians (in 721 BC) and the Babylonians (in 586 BC); the Exile in Babylon and the return of the exiles to Israel under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah (mid 400BC).

The writings or Poetic Books (Job to Songs of Solomon) – The devotionals and wisdom literature, which describes God’s greatness and His dealings with men.

The Prophetic Books (Isaiah to Daniel) – The collected writings of the 4 Major Prophets, whom God commissioned to deliver His message to men. These books are called “major prophets” because they are generally longer than the “minor prophets.”

Other prophetic writings (Hosea to Malachi) – The writings of the “minor prophets” also the last 12 books of the Old Testament written from approximately 840 BC to 400 BC.

The New Testament

The Gospels (Matthew to John) – The written testimonies of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Acts of the Apostles – The historical account of the Church starting from Pentecost in Jerusalem to the outward movement of the Church towards the 3 missionary journeys of Paul.

The Letters of Epistles (Romans to Jude) – It starts with the Pauline Epistles which are the letters attributed to Paul, written to church communities and to individuals; it also includes the letter to the Hebrews and the general letters of James, Peter, John and Jude.

The Revelation or Apocalypse – John’s apocalyptic visions about the sovereignty of God, the Second Coming of Christ and His coming victory and triumph over the forces of evil at the end of history.

Conclusion: The question of reliability

“I rely on Your word, O God.” God has established His precepts, and the psalmist again and again declares their reliability. He’s given us a morality to follows. He helps us with our greed, with ethics, with integrity, in verbal attacks from others, in feeling lonely and on and on. We could read right through this psalm, and we would uncover most of life’s major. Each time the writer returns to the same throbbing them and says, “I rely on Your Word…I find Your Word dependable…I realize it has never once failed me…”

And it is still true today. Amazing, isn’t it? The ancient, inerrant book is reliable right up to these closing days of the twentieth century. I like what an old Baptist scholar named A.T. Robertson once wrote with tongue and cheek, “One proof of the inspiration of Scripture is that it has withstood so many years of poor preaching.”4

The question for us then would be if we know this much about the Bible do we really view it as: “God’s Word to us. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword and the Christian’s charter. It should fill the memory, rule the heart and guide the feet. It should be read slowly, frequently and prayerfully”